Table 3 The key differences between this study and three previous studies that reported changes in diffusion tensor metrics in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).
Study characteristics | Zeineh et al.2 | Kimura et al.3 | Thapaliya et al.4 | This study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Participant Criteria | Fukuda | Fukuda, CCC and ICC | Fukuda, ICC | CCC |
Clinician Review | Single | Not Specified | Single | Dual |
Classify ME/CFS participants into two groups based on illness onset | No | No | No | Yes |
Recruitment of healthy controls with sedentary lifestyles | No | No | No | Yes |
Sample Size (Controls/ME/CFS) | 14/15 | 23/20 | 26/25(Fukuda), 26/18(ICC) | 43/43(PI-ME/CFS), 33/33(GO-ME/CFS) |
Opposite phase encoding data | Not collected | Not collected | Not collected | Collected |
Statistical analysis | Unpaired t-test using AFQ | 2-sample t-test with sex and age as covariates using SPM12 | 2-sample t-test with sex and age as covariates using SPM12 | Unpaired 2-sample t-test with sex, age, BMI, MET, depression, and anxiety scores as covariates using FSL |
Significance threshold | Corrected p < 0.05 | Voxel: Uncorrected p < 0.001 Cluster: FWE corrected p < 0.05 | Voxel: Uncorrected p < 0.004 Cluster: FDR corrected p < 0.05 | FWE corrected p < 0.05 with TFCE |
